She’s been raised by her rich grandmother, and her only goals are partying and bedding women.When her grandmother threatens to disinherit her if she doesn’t clean up her act, Madison has to find a way to convince her she’s changed.After a chance encounter with Sherry, Madison comes up with a crazy idea that will rock both of their worlds: she wants to hire Sherry to play her fake girlfriend.Themes: fake dating · fake girlfriend · fake relationship · play girl · pretend romance · rich girl/poor girl97,000 words

    Forced out of the service because of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, she tries to move on with her life-- putting up a good facade to those who don't know her very well. Alone, however; she is plagued with battle scars she can't shake even two years after her tour. When successful psychiatrist, Sara Lawson, decided to move back to the only place she ever felt safe, the last thing she had on her mind was falling in love. Deciding to renovate the home she inherited from her grandmother, she crosses paths with Sammy, who is now working as a contractor. Sara spots something kindred in the woman's hardened, but kind blue eyes. Each hiding their own secrets in the small Florida town, they both realize that the walls they had spent years perfecting have started to crack around one another. As they slowly build a friendship, can they keep each other safe from the danger that is speeding towards them?

    Sarah's self-prescribed therapy happily involves hitting all the garage and tag sales in and around her small town of Ellington, Massachusetts. If only she could turn her love for bargain hunting into a full-time career.One man's junk is another man's treasureBut after returning from a particularly successful day searching for yard sale treasures, Sarah finds a grisly surprise in one of her bags: a freshly bloodied shirt…that undoubtedly belongs to her ex, CJ, who now happens to be Ellington's chief of police. If that's not bad enough, it seems Tiffany has gone missing. Now it's up to Sarah to prove that her cold-hearted ex is not a cold-blooded killer…But finding that treasure can be murder.

    But just five days before Christmas, his unorthodox methods catch up with him and his world comes crashing down.McBride tries to concentrate on his new day job as security for the visiting Israeli ambassador. He even starts to feel a renewed sense of self-worth when the leader of the Israeli team, the aristocratic Tobias Leitner, takes a bullet for him in the line of duty. But he can't forget the trafficking case, especially when his investigations result in the kidnapping of his own daughter! McBride has no one to turn to for help—no one, except Toby.Can these two very different men work together to bring about a holiday miracle—and heal one another's heart in the process?42,000 words

    David Hobbs, vacationing with his wife Miriam, inadvertently stumbles upon a small cloth 'keepsake' bag and a broken tooth. A human tooth. Miriam begs David to hand the bag and tooth over to park officials, but he ignores his wife's pleas and secretly keeps the 'harmless' items. The action opens a doorway that had been closed for nearly a hundred years and unleashes hell on earth, or at least hell in the lives of David and Miriam.Following the brutal murder of his best friend in Denver, and an aborted attack on his oldest son, David desperately seeks to understand why a mysterious teenage girl has chosen to terrorize him and the males closest to him. To prevent further devastation to his family and end the wanton bloodshed, he returns to the enchanted hills of eastern Tennessee, where a terrible truth awaits discovery...one that forces him to face the consequences for the unpaid sins of his ancestors.

    She was found hiding in her apartment’s bathtub, barely clinging to life.With only fragments of shattered memory, she’s been trying her best to move past the nightmares ever since. Now in Boston, she lives a somewhat reclusive life, working from home as a medical transcriptionist and bingeing on mindless television shows.She can’t shake the fear that her attacker is out there, waiting to finish what he started, and Elizabeth, a nurse she met after the murders, is the only person she can trust.When someone from her past reemerges, Chelsea starts receiving disturbing messages and worries that her every move is being watched. As the messages mount and her memories begin to return, she’s led to a very terrifying and lonely place. But she needn’t be afraid. She won’t be alone there for long.

    You'd think that would leave plenty of clues, but they don't add up right. Can a 16-year-old girl put the puzzle pieces together and solve the murder?

    She’s also recovering from a traumatic head injury and months of being undercover on the mean streets of the Windy City. She takes an extended vacation in New Mexico to help her recover from her physical and emotional duress.She meets Anne Reynolds, a home health nurse, who is recovering from a failed sham marriage. Surrounded by the breathtaking New Mexico landscape, they are pulled into the horror of a serial murder case that Zeke thought was closed. Zeke’s PTSD runs dark and deep and threatens to overwhelm their fledgling relationship. But every once in a while, two opposing energies can merge to create a stronger alloy—but the laws of physics, like love, can be fickle.

    Stimulating courses to teach, a decent stipend, all expenses paid, plenty of interesting European travel . . . What's not to like? It does not take him long to find out. On his first night, he is forced to fend off two desperate, black-clad men who have invaded his Heidelberg hotel room with intent to kill. And then there are a few trivial details that the recruiting agency forgot to mention-such as the fact that the two previous holders of the fellowship both met with mysterious ends. From there, it is all downhill. Gideon finds himself the target in an unfamiliar game for which no one has bothered to give him the rules. What he does have is his own considerable intellect and his remarkable forensic skills. He will need them, for he is playing for some fairly high stakes: the security of Western Europe.

    She also thought that the fat paycheck—enough to get her off-planet and on the trail of her mother—meant she’d get a skilled surface team, monitoring her suit and environment, keeping her safe. Keeping her sane.Instead, she got Em.Em sees nothing wrong with controlling Gyre’s body with drugs or withholding critical information to “ensure the smooth operation” of her expedition. Em knows all about Gyre’s falsified credentials, and has no qualms using them as a leash—and a lash. And Em has secrets, too . . .As Gyre descends, little inconsistencies—missing supplies, unexpected changes in the route, and, worst of all, shifts in Em’s motivations—drive her out of her depths. Lost and disoriented, Gyre finds her sense of control giving way to paranoia and anger. On her own in this mysterious, deadly place, surrounded by darkness and the unknown, Gyre must overcome more than just the dangerous terrain and the Tunneler which calls underground its home if she wants to make it out alive—she must confront the ghosts in her own head.But how come she can't shake the feeling she’s being followed?

    She has barely had time to acquaint herself to the dorm food before finding herself threatened by a jealous She-Devil, fending off the advances of a thirty-something redneck, and stumbling upon an art fraud scheme. To top things off, her parents go their separate ways: her mom to follow a psychic calling; her dad adrift in his midlife crisis.Bad decision-making, law-bending behavior, and surprise romances make freshman year memorable in Paisley Ray's DEEP FRIED AND PICKLED.

    Growing up in suburbia and attending an Ivy league school, Riley had always done exactly what she was supposed to do, including making an appearance on an impromptu blind date that would turn out far differently than she ever could have imagined. Suzie Jacobs had never needed anyone in her life, had never wanted anyone to stay in her life. She had put herself through college and opened a successful business, all on her own. As beautiful as she was carefree, Suzie Jacobs didn't answer to anyone but herself. That is, until she met Riley. When the two woman meet unexpectedly, their lives are thrown upside down, and both are led to question everything they have ever believed in.

    But ever since her dad, an LAPD SWAT sergeant, died, she's also got a few killer secrets.To cope, Ruby has been trying to stay focused on school (the top spot in her class is on the line) and spending time with friends (her Jimmy Choos and Manolo Blahniks are nothing if not loyal). But after six months of therapy and pathetic parenting by her mom, the District Attorney, Ruby decides to pick up where her dad left off and starts going after the bad guys herself.When Ruby ends up killing a murderer to save his intended victim, she discovers that she's gone from being the huntress to the hunted. There's a sick mastermind at play, and he has Ruby in his sights. Ruby must discover who's using her to implement twisted justice before she ends up swapping Valentino red for prison orange.With a gun named Smith, a talent for martial arts, and a boyfriend with eyes to die for, Ruby is ready to face the worst. And if a girl's forced to kill, won't the guilt sit more easily in a pair of Prada peep-toe pumps?

    But when she’s ordered to kill to prove her loyalty, she aborts the operation without having identified the leaders. Now, Corelli is the one exposed. With her brothers and sisters in blue ostracizing her, can she trust Detective P.J. Parker to watch her back?Parker is the daughter of a vehement critic of the NYPD. But that doesn’t stop her from wanting to work in the homicide division. And wanting to learn from the best. Unfortunately, Chiara Corelli is the best…even if she is the most hated detective in the department.Without Parker, Corelli will be condemned to desk duty. Corelli is Parker’s only chance to work in homicide. Will the two women put aside their fears and join forces to solve a brutal murder and identify the leaders of the dirty cops before they get to Corelli’s family?Editor: Ann RobertsCover Designer: Judith FellowsGenre: Mystery

    And those knitting needles aren't just for craft projects. To most people, Gin Bombay is an ordinary single mom. Then again, they don't know she's from a family of top secret assassins. Somewhere between leading a Girl Scout troop for her kindergartner--would nooses count for a knot badge?--and keeping their puppy from destroying the furniture, Gin now has to take out a new target. BUT YOU CAN PICK THEM OFFExcept this target has an incredibly hot Australian bodyguard who knows just how to make her weak in the knees. But with a mole threatening to expose everything, Gin doesn't have much time to let her hormones do the happy dance. She's got to find the leak and clear her assignment...or she'll end up next on the Bombay family hit list.